Conrad sighed as he looked out the window, his mind was racing and his heart was still pumping rapidly. It had been three hours since they received news that they couldn't stop the coup in Iraq before it even had the chance to begin. What was worse was that they had no news on Elizabeth. They didn't know where she was, if she was hurt or even if she was alive. And the odds of her survival were decreasing rapidly.
The feeling of helplessness clawed inside him, carefully hidden under a facade that had years of practice. Henry had already came by and told him that if anything happened to her, he'd be the one to blame. Didn't Henry know that he knew that? Didn't he know that he would have never approved the trip if he knew this happen.
Conrad could remember the first day they had met, in was the second semester of her third year. She had been working on something and didn't notice him until she almost ran into him.
"Oh!" She had exclaimed, "I'm so sorry, I'm studying for a test."
He had smiled, "It's okay. You didn't even run into me." He had said, holding out his hand, "My name is Conrad Dalton, I'm a senior here."
Elizabeth shook his hand, "Elizabeth Adams, Freshman."
"What are you majoring in, Elizabeth?" He asked her, glancing up at the sky.
"Political Science," She answered, folding her papers back into her textbook, "I'm hoping to get my PhD."
"Oh? What professor do you have?"
"To many to name," She had said, laughing, "But the hardest one so far is Professor Frawley."
"Ooo, I hated his class. Couldn't ever stay awake." He had laughed with her.
He looked at his watch for the time, "Crap," He said, "I'm late, I'll talk to you later." He had yelled, running towards the main campus.
Conrad smiled fondly, missing his friend dearly. Turning from the window he reached for his phone and called Russell, waiting several seconds while the phone rang.
"Mr. President, there has been no news." The White House chief of staff said.
The President sighed, "I Figured. Will you have someone bring me a hot chocolate?"
Russell was silent for a second, "Of course, sir. I'll have Lucy bring you one."
"Thanks, Russell."
He understood the chief of staffs hesitance, he had never once asked for hot chocolate. But it was Bess's favorite, and it was the one thing she was able to cook.
Luce arrived minutes later with a hot cup of chocolate.
"Do you think she will be okay, sir?"
"I don't know." He answered, not willing to give out false hope.
He took the cup and looked back out the window, smirking when he remembered Bess's reaction to him telling her that he had pranked her professor for her.
"You didn't!" She laughed, dropping her spoon.
He laughed too, "I did! I swear!" Conrad sat his ice cream aside, "He gave you a C on that paper! It was at least worth an A!"
"Frawley didn't let go of that for weeks! He even assigned that terrible 8 page essay!"
"Don't complain! That paper got you an A in his class!" He argued, taking a sip of his beer.
She laughed, "I can't believe you never got caught!"
Years later, when they both were at the White House, one the President and the other the Secretary of State, they stood side by side, talking about random things. Taking a small breather from their stressful jobs, Russell had brought the Chief justice to talk to them. Bess had broke off, and looked like she was going to die from laughter. Which she had managed to hold back until Frawley had walked away. The moment he was out of sight Bess had started to laugh, and Conrad was right with her. Neither of them had the chance to answer Russell's confused look.
They had done everything together. When she would go through a break up he'd show up with ice cream and her favorite drink. And they would stay up into the early hours of the morning watching spy movies and making fun of them. Her breakups though, were few and far in between, she had always prioritized work over personal.
And when he would go through break ups, she'd show up with his favorite beer and his favorite cake, which to this day he had no idea how she figured out what his favorite was. And they'd stay up talking shit about people all night, before settling down to watch his favorite movie. She wasn't there for many breakups though, because before long he had finally met the woman who would end up his wife.
Conrad had taken her to meet Bess, and get her seal of approval. He was pretty sure Elizabeth had given her the shovel talk a week or so later. In return, when she and Henry had started to get serious, he had taken the man out for drinks, and told him, not so vaguely, that if he ever hurt Bess in any way, they wouldn't find his body.
A year or so later Henry had come to Conrad to ask for his blessing to marry Bess. Since her father was dead, and her brother wasn't around, he was the only one left to ask. And he had given it to Henry. He didn't doubt that he loved Bess, and that he would stand with her in whatever she chose to do with her life.
When his wife gave birth to Harrison, she had been named godmother. And when she had Stephine, he had been named godfather.
They doted on eachothers children like they were their own, they brought sweets, toys, etc.. They told embarrassing stories of each other, each trying to out do the other.
He took another sip of the hot chocolate, which was now cold, but he didn't care.
Conrad turned to face whoever entered his office. It was Russell.
"Mr. President." He said cautiously.
"Russell," He said calmly, not betraying the dread in him.
The man sighed, "She's hurt. We don't know how bad, or anything else."
All the president heard was 'She's hurt'. He slipped into his chair, fear, relief, and hate fought for dominance. Hurt was better than dead, but they didn't know how bad she was hurt.
"Okay," He said quietly, "We can work with that. Have a hospital ready to check her out, and then have her back home as soon as possible."
Russell nodded, "Yes, sir. Would you like me to update Henry?"
Conrad nodded his assent. He knew that he should be the one to tell him, but he couldn't stomach it.
He heard the door click shut and let his head drop into his hands. His nerves were jumpy, and it was making him tired, but he couldn't rest until he knew Bess was safe. A burst of cold air flew through the slightly open window, reminding him of how Elizabeth would get sick so easily in the cold. It had gotten to the point where had kept a spare scarf and mittens at his place.
She had once made a bet that wouldn't get sick even if she didn't wear them for a week. The bet was over in three days, and as a result she had to get married with mistletoe above her and Henry. He had burst out laughing when he had seen it.
She had given it to him as a keepsake after the wedding. He still had it, it was in a box full of things from their time at college.
He sighed as he stood again, he was to antsy to sit down. He opened the door to the garden and stepped out, the cool air chilling him, but his coat taking the brunt of it. It was quiet out side, besides the murmur of the wind and the chirping of birds.
He didn't stay out long, he was the President, he couldn't afford to get sick. He had just closed the doors and looked out with window when Russell ran into the room.
"She's okay!" He exclaimed, "Bess is fine!"
The words hit Conrad like a truck, relief spread through him with a passion.
"She's already in the air, she'll be here in an hour and a half. Medics have already checked her out. They gave her some stitches on her back, she'll have a scar from the shrapnel, but nothing to bad."
"She also has an agreement from the Iran leader to put in place the deal."
"Good job, Russell." He said, his voice heavy with emotion. "Do you want to come with me when I go to see her when she arrives?"
Russell hesitated, but nodded, "If you wouldn't mind, sir."
Conrad nodded, "Have the detail prepare for the trip."
"Yes, sir." The Chief of Staff said walking towards the door, but stopped when the President started to speak again.
"Have them bring some triple chocolate ice cream with marshmallows."
If Russell was confused, he didn't voice it, "Yes, sir."
Conrad looked at the time, it was almost midnight, he had been in his office for over 12 hours.
Thirty minutes later Russell re-entered the room, and informed him that they need to leave now if they wanted to arrive on him.
Conrad nodded, "Let's go then," He said, grabbing his thicker coat and walking out the door.
He heard Russell fall in step beside him, "I called Henry and told him Bess was safe and that she'd be on her way home after we pick her up."
"Thank you."
"Of course, sir." Russell answered, opening the limo door for the president.
They rode in silence for the most part, meaningless words passed between the two every once in awhile.
"We're here sir," His driver said, seconds before his door opened.
Once out of the car, the two walked into the airport. The airport was empty, having been cleared once it had been known that this is where the secretary would be arriving.
"Bess will be arriving in five minutes, they already started their descent." Russell informed him, leading the president towards a private room near Elizabeth's gate. The room was secluded, and had no windows, but was still warm and bright.
"She has landed, she'll be over in a couple minutes, sir." Russell told him and hesitated a moment.
"Permission to speak freely sir?"
Conrad furrowed his brow, "Granted."
"Be Careful sir, she has just come of combat zone." He warned.
The President nodded, "I will be."
The Chief of Staff checked his phone, "She's here. There are no cameras in the room and no one can her or see what happens in here."
"Thank you Russell."
"Of course sir. Oh! Here." His friend handed him the ice cream and two spoons with it, "I'll be outside."
Once that door was closed the other opened and Elizabeth entered seconds later.
There was silence for a moment as Conrad looked over his friend, trying gauge how bad it was.
Her hair was slightly messy and her clothes were wrinkled. Her makeup was messed up, and bags orbited her eyes.
"Bess…" He said quietly, walking over to her.
She looked over to him, "Mr. President."
"We can do without the formalities for now Bess." He told her.
"Conrad," She amended.
Now in touching distance, he wrapped her in tight hug, tears pricked his eyes as he held her.
"I thought you were dead, Bess." He said, "What would I have done without my best friend?"
He felt tears soaking through his shirt, but he ignored them, instead rubbing circles on her back.
He leaned down and whispered in her ear, "I have your favorite ice cream."
"Triple chocolate with marshmallows?" She mumbled.
"Of course." He sounded affronted.
He stood back as she went to get the ice cream and sit down. If there was one thing Bess hated, it was being hovered over.
Conrad sat down beside her. They couldn't stay too long, she needed to go home and see her kids and husband. He also knew that things weren't alright as they may seem, chance were that Bess was still in shock.
He stayed silent as she ate the ice cream, relieved that at least she was eating something.
They were in there for over forty-five minutes, in which Bess had finished eating the ice cream.
"Russell is waiting outside, he was worried about you too." He told her, taking the trash from her and throwing it away.
She nodded slowly and stood.
Conrad opened the door and stood back as Russell entered, his attention on Elizabeth.
He watched as his Chief of Staff walked over to her and rubbed her arm as he told her something.
"Mr. President, may I suggest we take her home now?"
"Yes. Let's get you home Bess."